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Nauservaughal the Black
Nauservaughal the Black was the oldest and most powerful black dragon in Jenaerus. He served as the personal mount and mightiest battlefield ally of Maynard Gautier. Nauservaughal was killed by Sir Gram Gomeric, wielding Nadrunath, ''in the Battle of the Afternoon on the Great Day when Trallten's Hounds defeated the Harbingers (1st Low-Spring, 2,062 H.R.). History In the twilight of dusk at the end of the First Day, Nauservaughal the Black hatched from a leathery egg. During the First Night, the wyrmling accepted meats from the hands of the darkest of powers, and through their patronage and his own endless hate he grew terrible over the millennia as the first and mightiest of his kind. Having neither loyalty nor love for anything or anyone but the race of creatures of which he was king, Nauservaughal the Black was bred to six females -dragons that had hatched later, on six nights that each fell after a day marred by great evil- and filled the lands of All-Eth with his spawn beyond counting. For many long centuries, Nauservaughal claimed all of the lands from the Gine River to the Clantral Mountains as his fiefdom, and brooked no living things to dwell there above the level of beasts unless they were foul. Dwarves, elves, and gnomes alike all learned to avoid the lands that would one day become Nalthand; for to stray west of the river, it was said, was to waken the wrath of one who did nothing but hate. He made his lair in a valley deep within the lands that would be called the Faeldun, for due to his prestige Nauservaughal had become a Guardian of the Node, and had sworn an oath in the Dawn of Days to defend the Endless Circle at the Singing Spire. In black tunnels filled with slime that had never known the light of day, Nauservaughal wriggled through the stygian darkness; and he was glad, for in it he was reminded of that First Night, and the promises that had been made to him. But one day, a fair-haired young warrior named Harrin led his people in Exile out of their ruin in the east. When he led his horse out of the water of the Gine and onto the western bank, Harrin unfurled his banner; and the silver thread of the griffin there glimmered in the sunlight, and his heralds blew upon their silver trumpets as the voices of the men, women, and children in his vast host rose in a great cheer. At that moment, across many hundreds of miles of wasteland and swamp, the dragon awoke in his lair and felt a hatred the like of which he had never known before. So he took flight upon his vast hidebound wings, and in wrath he came upon the folk of Nalthand at the end of their long wanderings. But Harrin had been honed to a deadly mastery in his sufferings and the sufferings of his people, and all about him were his knights and his lords and his captains and his ancestor-priests; and in his hand was ''Nadrunath. At the close of their contest -which has served as the most stirring stanza for many a bardic lay- Harrin clove a mighty blow upon the dragon's skull and hacked the right horn from the creature's monstrous head. Thus it was a near thing when Nauservaughal fled the field, and squirmed into the deepest fastnesses of his tunnels blinded by his pain with his blood smoking at his feet. No doubt the news reached him, as the years rolled on, how the young Harrin founded a shining City of the Western Crown, became King Harrin, and filled his kingdom with light. As he brooded in the darkness, Nauservaughal came then to know a new sensation: although he had drunk the cup of malice as his one and only pleasure through many long millennia, now he hated, but it brought him no joy. Darkness Rising When Maynard Gautier made landfall on All-Eth, Nauservaughal flew above the ship that had borne the wizard from Tarngeriath and bellowed his malice to the long dark waves stretching out beyond. The moment when Maynard stepped out of the rowboat and onto the shore, Nauservaughal looked at the symbols on the sails of the galleon behind, lowered his head, and proclaimed that he would serve as mount for the First of Twelve. In time, he freely gave access to the Endless Circle, thus allowing Maynard to master and then break through one of the four barriers surrounding Jenaerus: Air. By proclaiming his allegiance to the First of Twelve, Nauservaughal legitimized Maynard's bid for mastery in the eyes of the Evil powers. It was Nauservaughal's patronage -steered by the scheming of the yugoloths- that allowed Maynard, within a year of his landfall, to be at the head of an alliance of devils (Bel, Moloch, and Geryon) and demons (Graz'zt, Zuggtmoy, and Baphomet), supported by black dragons, that controlled legions of orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, kobolds, gnolls, sahuagin, ogres, trolls, and giants. His stewardship over the Endless Circle at last at an end, Nauservaughal led his brood across the land on a crusade of hate. His first move and greatest triumph was the trap laid for Duke Roderick Menhal and the Nalthandian armies of the Southern Lowlands, which he lured to his valley and destroyed. The deaths of Duke Roderick, his sons and heirs, many of the ruling lords and champions of Leathingdown and the Faeldun, hundreds of Ghienese, and most of the regional Ayrdmet were a jewel in his dark heart and a testament to his horror. Nauservaughal was at the side of Maynard throughout the entirety of his rampage and lent every aid to his younger ally's dark designs. Yet Nauservaughal was doomed to meet with Nadrunath ''a second and final time. When Trallten's Hounds committed suicide with obsidian daggers and so hurled themselves into the Soul Channel to destroy Maynard, the heroes rose toward Oblivion's Citadel and found Nauservaughal athwart their path; and King Wellest III had lent Sir Gram the royal blade to end the Quest. Thus, a long era came to a close when the Knight of Gomeric drove the silver blade into the dragon and, through misfortune or destiny, the dragon's frame failed utterly to withstand the devastating strike the artifact unleashes when it meets with a true enemy of the Kingdom. Nauservaughal disintegrated into the Soul Channel where he was blown away on the nether winds for all time. Statistics '''Nauservaughal the Black: '''Male advanced great wyrm black dragon; CR 26; Colossal dragon (water); HD 43d12+516; hp 795; Init +0; Spd 60 ft., fly 250 ft. (clumsy), swim 60 ft.; AC 49, touch 2, flat-footed 49; Base Atk +43; Grp +79; Atk +56 melee (6d8+20/19-20, bite); Full Atk +56 melee (6d8+20/19-20, bite) and +53 melee (4d6+10, 2 claws) and +53 melee (2d8+10, 2 wings) and +53 melee (4d6+30, tail slap); SA breath weapon, ''charm reptiles, corrupt water, crush, darkness, ''frightful presence, ''insect plague, plant growth, ''spells, spell-like abilities, tail sweep; SQ blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 120 ft., damage reduction 25/epic, immunity to acid, ''sleep, and paralysis effects, keen senses, spell resistance 32, water breathing; Space/Reach 30 ft./20 ft. (30 ft. w/ bite); AL NE; SV Fort +35, Ref +23, Will +29; Str 50, Dex 10, Con 35, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 22. Skills and Feats: Concentration +58, Escape Artist +46, Hide +30, Intimidate +52, Knowledge (history) +52, Knowledge (the planes) +52, Knowledge (religion) +52, Listen +52, Move Silently +46, Search +52, Spot +52, Swim +66; Blind-Fight*, Cleave, Devastating Critical, Great Cleave, Flyby Attack, Hover, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Natural Attack, Improved Sunder, Overwhelming Critical, Multiattack, Power Attack, Snatch, Weapon Focus (bite), Wingover. *Nauservaughal’s blind-fight feat, in conjunction with his keen senses and long familiarity, allows him to ignore the miss chance from his own darkness ''spell-like ability. '''Breath Weapon (Su):' 140-ft. line, damage 28d4 acid, Reflex DC 43 half. ''Corrupt Water ''(Sp): 1/day - stagnate 10 cu. ft. of water. 420-ft. radius, Will DC 37 negates. Caster level 19th. ''Charm Reptiles ''(Sp): 3/day - mass charm monster (DC 17)'' on reptilian animals, communicate as with ''speak with animals. ''Caster level 19th. '''Crush (Ex):' Opponents size Large or smaller, Reflex DC 43 negates, 4d8+30 points of bludgeoning damage. ''Darkness (Sp): 3/day - as ''darkness, but 140-ft. radius. Caster level 19th. Frightful Presence (Ex): 420-ft. radius, HD 42 or less, Will DC 37 negates. ''Spells Known (Per Day) ''(6/8/8/7/7/7/7/6/6/6; save DC 16 + spell level): 0- arcane mark, prestidigitation, open/close, message, mending, ghost sound, read magic, detect magic, mage hand; 1- protection from good, shield, mage armor, true strike, expeditious retreat; 2- resist energy, bull’s strength, cat’s grace, bear’s endurance, eagle’s splendor; 3- haste, displacement, rage, protection from energy; 4- stoneskin, fire shield, greater invisibility, scrying ; 5- break enchantment, dismissal, contact other plane, resonating resistance; 6- greater heroism, true seeing, greater dispel magic; 7- spell turning, greater teleport, greater arcane sight; 8- moment of prescience, mind blank, antipathy; 9- time stop, foresight, wish. Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day- insect plague; 1/day - plant growth. Caster level 19th. Tail Sweep (Ex): Half-circle 40 ft. in diameter, opponents size Medium or smaller, Reflex DC 43 half, 2d8+30 points of bludgeoning damage. Water Breathing (Ex): Nauservaughal can breathe underwater indefinitely and can freely use his breath weapon, spells, and other abilities while submerged. Category:Black Dragon Category:Neutral Evil Category:Deceased Category:Character Category:Epic